Athletes go to great lengths in order to compete at a higher capacity than normal. One of the most controversial ways they do this is by using certain illegal drugs (anabolic steroids, amphetamines, peptide hormones, etc.) that enhance their abilities, make them physically stronger, or more mentally prepared. The popularity of drugs in sports has increased over the years, and there is much concern for the many side effects of these drugs.

Steroids are popular in many different sports, including baseball, football, and professional wrestling. Steroids are hormones that act as performance-enhancing drugs. Two of the most common types are anabolic and androgenic.

Anabolic steroids specialize in muscle growth, and androgenic steroids specialize in developing male sexual characteristics.

Baseball was a sport where many players took advantage of the drug because there were no strict testing policies. That changed in 2005 because so many players appeared to use steroids.

“Up until this year, no one was really caught or suspended, I think the rule was: if you tested positive, you had a few months to retest again then a few months to test again, I am not exactly sure about the old rules, but if people where caught no one ever knew about it,” says senior and Guilford pitcher Michael Balash.

One question that might be asked by a fan that didn’t understand what steroids actually do is “How does the drug affects a player’s performance.”

“With steroids, a player could drive a ball twenty feet more, and so a fly ball became a homerun; and pitchers get what is known as a ‘dead arm,’ and the steroids would allow them to heal quicker and come back from any injury faster,” said Balash.

According to USA Today, “In a Feb. 17 – Mar. 9 survey of 568 players, 79 percent said they believed steroids played some role in record-breaking performances by high-profile players.”

Steroid use is not just for athletes on a professional and collegiate level, but in high school sports all over the United States.

According to the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse, “A survey in 1999 determined that 479,000 students nationwide, or 2.9% of students, had used steroids by their senior year of high school, and in 2001, that percentage went up to 4% of high school seniors.”

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Household Survey on Drug Abuse states: “1,084,000 Americans, or 0.5 percent of the adult population, said that they had used anabolic steroids. In the 18-34 age group, about 1 percent had used steroids.

It’s understandable why any athlete would want to be better, but there are plenty of risks involved when they resort to using drugs.

Many anabolic drugs can be addictive; there are serious side effects such as baldness, infertility, and development of breasts in men, and growth of facial hair, deepened voice, and changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle in women.

Athletes should think twice about using steroids or any anabolic drug with these side effects. The abundant amount of risks that drugs subject an athlete to should overshadow any perceived benefits to performance.